The Little Fairy
by Janet12
Summary: What if Vidia had escaped from the jar in Great Fairy Rescue? What if there are 'lost' fairies? What if one fell in love with a human? Is it possible for a fairy to become human? Is it safe? Vidia meets Jacquie, a fairy who has lived twenty years in the attic of the boy who laughed her to life. Vidia reluctantly joins Jacquie on her quest to become human. Rated for injury. AU.
1. Jacquie

Disclaimer: All recognizable subject material is not my property.

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 1**

**Jacquie**

Vidia put her hands on the jar's side and got ready to roll the jar off the seat, but the human glanced protectively at her and she knew he'd notice and catch it. She tried to just take her hands off the wall of the jar, but it was sticky. She jerked them off roughly.

She slowly moved to the lid of the jar.

He'd punched holes in the lid to give her air – apparently he was a practiced kidnapper. Vidia put one hand in each hole and twisted hard. It moved.

She glanced up at the human. She pulled her hands from the holes and moved to set her back against the jar. He quickly scanned the jar, then turned back to watch the road.

Vidia gently pulled her wings off the sticky jar, then went back to the lid. She twisted it off and stepped out. Everything was louder and bumpier out there. She put the lid back on and twisted it back on, hoping that he wouldn't notice that she was gone.

She jumped into the air and flew back the way they'd come, hoping she could stop Tinkerbell and the others from mounting a rescue attempt.

She put on more speed, but then it started to rain again. She tried to slow down, to stop, but she was going way too fast.

A raindrop landed squarely on her left wing and she fell.

**The Little Fairy**

Vidia woke. The sky was clear and dark blue. It was almost night. She moaned and sat up, but heard a tearing sound. She looked down at the ground and was surprised to see that it was newspaper. She'd fallen directly on a stack of newspapers.

She glanced at her wings and blinked. They were covered with newspaper. She glanced behind her and saw that the wet newspaper had torn to stay stuck to her wings. She flapped her wings a few times, but it didn't come off. She reached back and tugged on it, but it didn't come off.

She limply lay back down on the stack of papers, frustrated.

"Look! A doll!"

Vidia froze.

A young boy was standing over her, and another one joined him. They were both grubby and wet.

The first one picked her up and she went rigid, so as to feel like a doll. The boy used a gentle fingertip to move her arms and legs around.

"What a flexible toy." the second boy remarked. "I wonder if the head turns around backwards."

The boy moved his thumb and finger toward Vidia's head.

Vidia leapt to her feet on his palm. "Don't you dare!" she shouted.

"How did that happen?"

"I don't know?"

"Leave it. It's jinxed."

"It's a neat doll."

Vidia saw a post just next to her and took a running leap from the boys palm and grabbed the post. She hung there for a moment, then started to climb up.

"It's getting away! Grab it!"

"Give me a lift. I'll stand on your shoulders and she won't get away."

"All right."

Vidia climbed as fast as she could, but the pole was smooth and wet, and she didn't have a lot of practice. She looked back and saw a large hand reaching for her.

"AH!" she lost her grip and slid all the way down to the ground. She heard a scuffle as the boy jumped off his friend, and they both crouched down to where she was sitting.

"We can sell her!" one boy decided.

"She'll bring in a lot of money."

She stood and backed away from the boys.

One of them reached for Vidia, but suddenly a fairy landed in front of her. She was holding a spoon. The fairy pulled a large diamond from her pocket and put it in the spoon. She used the spoon as a catapult and threw the diamond far away down the street. The boys gave chase without a word.

The fairy turned around. "Are you okay?"

Vidia frowned. "I don't think I've met you, darling."  
>"I don't think I've met you, either. What of it?"<p>

"I meet all the fairies who come to the mainland. You aren't one of them."

The fairy drew back, startled. "You're one of the _regular_ fairies?"

"I certainly am not regular – but I do come with the ordinary ones." Vidia paused. "What do you mean 'regular fairies'?"

"I'm one of the lost fairies. We never got blown to Pixie Hollow. We live wherever we're born. You've met Queen Clarion, then?"

"Of course. Everyone has." Vidia answered.

"When you tell her about me will I be able to go to Pixie Hollow?"

"She wouldn't have it any other way."

It started to rain again.

"Follow me – let's get inside."

"Wait – who are you?"

"Jacquie. And you're . . ?"

"Vidia."

"Nice to meet you. Come on."

Jacquie led her up a set of low stairs, and she opened a door that was built into a larger door. They walked down a long hall and up another flight of stairs.

Jacquie paused in the doorway of the attic and gestured to large dollhouse. "My home."

Vidia was impressed. It wasn't just a dollhouse – it was a castle.

**The Little Fairy**

When they were settled down at a table, with Jacquie working to dissolve the superglue that Vidia had gotten onto her wings, Vidia asked.

"Why haven't you ever come to pixie hollow?"

"I don't know where it is." Jacquie replied. "I've only just heard about it in the last year – Minta learns stuff like that."

"Minta?" Vidia asked.

"Araminta, really. She's another lost fairy. She lives a good day's travel across rooftops."

Vidia thought for a moment. "So how long have you been here?"

"I was born in a hospital." Jacquie explained. "The baby that laughed me to life had very fragile health, and I've looked after him. Thomas is almost twenty now. This used to be his castle. He'd play with toy soldiers in here for days on end."

"So you've never used pixie dust?"

"Of course not. None of us lost fairies fly properly. But I've made wings from bird feathers that fasten at the shoulder and wrist. I can fly from rooftop to rooftop pretty easily. I fly and camouflage myself at the same time."

"That's pretty neat." Vidia smiled. "What talent are you?"

"I don't know."

"What do you do with your magic?"

"I shield Thomas from the rain when he goes out. When he was small he caught pneumonia and almost died, so I make sure he doesn't get wet on the way to the office."

"Well, you can control the rain. You must be a water fairy. Or a storm fairy."

"Storm fairy!" Jacquie grinned. "I like the sound of that. Try your wings now." she laid the newspaper over the table, pleased that she'd gotten it off Vidia's wings.

Vidia flapped her wings. "Like new." she nodded. "Nice job."

"Thanks." Jacquie smiled. "You can take a nap while I watch the rain if you'd like. I'll wake you when it's dry."

"No, thanks. I'll stay awake, too." Vidia turned her down.  
>"I'm going to go get a hot drink." Jacquie announced. "Do you want one?"<p>

"Yes, please. Shall I come with?"

"No, stay here. I'm good at getting around the house alone. Don't worry about the rats." Jacquie left.

"Rats?" Vidia said, hesitantly.

"The cat will get them." Jacquie yelled back.

"Cat?" Vidia stood slowly and looked around, cautiously.

**The Little Fairy**

"Here we are." Jacquie brought in two steaming cups of tea.  
>"I didn't think little human boys had toy china sets." Vidia remarked, taking hers.<p>

Jacquie smiled. "They don't. These are from another lost fairy's human. She grew out of play china and threw it away. Portia grabbed all the useful china and gives it to her friends."

Vidia sniffed her tea, frowning. "It doesn't really smell like tea." she pointed out.

"Yeah. Thomas's parents really have terrible taste. They get the _nastiest_ tea. I can live with it – I've been drinking it my whole life." Jacquie took a big gulp of hers. "Ohh, too hot." she put it down.

"His parents?" Vidia inquired.

"They used to live in the country, but they sold the farm and moved in with Thomas. He likes it because his mother is a good cook, and they need to be near a physician." Jacquie explained.

Vidia nodded. "By the way, I really like your leaf dress." She remarked, then took a sip of the tea. She held it in her mouth for a moment, wondering if it would be rude to spit it back out. Then she swallowed it.

"Thanks." Jacquie smiled. "And I'm sorry."

Vidia frowned. "Sorry? Sorry for what?"

"You'll understand in a minute." Jacquie grimaced. "It was necessary."

Vidia frowned and stood – well, tried to stand. She pushed herself up using the table and swayed on the spot.

"What have you -" Vidia choked. She glanced at the teacup, and realized that there had been something in there. Out of spite, she knocked it off the table and it broke.

"Hey!" Jacquie protested. "I only have three of those!"

"Deal with it!" Vidia snarled, then collapsed onto the floor, unconscious.

**Yep, to any who noticed, the title is from 'The Little Mermaid', which I have _not_ watched, but I have read. This story will not be mirroring that plot. Vidia is the main character ****_not_**** Jacquie.**


	2. The Quest

Disclaimer in Chapter One

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 2**

**The Quest**

Vidia blinked. Everything was blurry, and there were gray stripes going horizontally across her vision. She glanced around.  
>"I really am quite sorry."<p>

_Whose voice is that?_ Vidia wondered.

"Who're you?" she asked, drowsily. "Where's the – human – girl?"

"There isn't any human girl." Jacquie told her, firmly. "I gave you a human painkiller, aspirin. I put a half-pill into your tea, and you had just a sip – it might still be too much. But I don't know what happens when you have too much, so we'll just see what happens."

Vidia sat bolt upright and looked around. The bars that had seemed horizontal were actually vertical.

"Where am I?" she demanded.

"Every castle has a dungeon." Jacquie grinned, then sobered. "I'm really sorry about that, you know."

"_Why_ am I here?" Vidia ignored her apology.

"Because I don't need you going to Queen Clarion and taking me back to pixie hollow." Jacquie replied. She was packing stuff into a bag made of newspaper.

"What?" Vidia asked, incredulously.

"I asked if she'd bring me to Pixie Hollow. You said she wouldn't have it any other way."

"I meant if you _wanted_ to come she – I have no idea what she'd do." Vidia admitted.

"You see?" Jacquie shrugged. "You can go and tell her about me in a day or so. By then I'll be long gone."

"Long gone where?" Vidia asked.

"You know I can't tell you that." Jacquie laughed.

"What's this all about, Jacquie?" Vidia demanded.

"Thomas."

"The human boy."

"He isn't a boy anymore, Vidia." Jacquie sighed. "He's a man. He's so intelligent and handsome and talented. And he literally does not know that I exist." She turned away from the dungeon cell that Vidia was locked in. "I'm head over wings in love – with my human."

"You can't do anything about that." Vidia kicked one of the bars viciously. "Let me out!"

"I can become human." Jacquie

"That's possible?" Vidia asked, curiously.

"That's what I'm going to find out." Jacquie pulled her bag over her shoulders. "I have to leave."

"What about me?"

"I'll let a fairy know that you're here, and they'll let you out." Jacquie promised.

"I promise that if you let me go I won't tell anyone about you." Vidia offered.

"That's great!" Jacquie smiled, widely. "For an alternate future where I actually do let you out. In this future I don't. Bye, Vidia."

"There are fairies combing the city for me right now!" Vidia shouted. "When they find me locked up I'll have to tell them about you. If you let me go I won't. I'll tell them about the superglue, and that I had to wash it off before I could fly."

Jacquie ignored her.

Vidia glared at her. "You can't just leave me here!"

"Sure can." Jacquie replied, cheerfully.

"I'll scream and scream and scream for help until either fairies or your humans find me. If the humans find me, then certainly the fairies will hear of it." Vidia threatened. "And then I'll send them all right after you."

Jacquie turned and looked at her. "You would do that?"

"Sure will." Vidia mocked Jacquie's earlier jest.

"I'll move to plan B." Jacquie decided, and handed Vidia a small brown cookie shaped thing through the bars. It was very hard.

"Eat that."

"Why should I?" Vidia asked, suspiciously.

"Can't get much worse, can it?" Jacquie shrugged. "One bite and I'll open the door."

Vidia sniffed the thing, but it didn't seem to have any smell. She took a small bite and ate it.

"Okay, open the door." Vidia ordered.

"Sure." Jacquie pulled the door wide open.

Vidia frowned, not understanding why she'd do that. She took a step forward, then pitched on her face.

"Sorry." Jacquie told the unconscious fairy. "You're between me and my dream. If you won't move, I'll move you."

**The Little Fairy**

Vidia woke up. Kind of. She couldn't see, smell or hear anything. Except for a strange ringing sound in her ears.

_Jacquie gave me more of that aspirin stuff!_ She realized, angry. She tried to move, but her hands were tied behind her and she was gagged. She glanced around. It looked like some kind of closet or something. It was only just long enough for her to lie down in.

She ran her tongue across the gag and realized that it was grass. Jacquie hadn't been very thorough. After a few minutes of chewing, the gag completely fell away. Vidia took a deep breath. "Help! Help!" she kicked the wall with her feet.

She kicked harder, and suddenly made a hole in the wall. She sighed in relief, but then the door to the closet opened.

"Stop it!" Jacquie ordered. "You're making a mess of the kitchen with your thumping!"

"Well, _pardon me_!" Vidia said, sarcastically. "You going to let me lie here?"

"Get up." Jacquie hoisted her to her feet. "You're coming with me." She untied Vidia's hands, then tied them together again in front of her.  
>"We aren't going anywhere." Vidia pointed out.<p>

"I mean you're coming on my quest with me." Jacquie explained. "I can't leave you here, I can't let you go, so the only option is to take you with. Maybe I can leave you at Minta's."

"Minta's?" Vidia caught at the name.

"Araminta, actually. She's another lost fairy. We're going to her house now. Every lost fairy knows Minta. If anyone has some kind of magic charm that can turn me human, she'll know."

Vidia nodded.

Jacquie shoved a pencil into a holster on her bag, and picked up a two pronged olive fork.

"One more thing." Jacquie pulled out a strip of fabric. "Flatten your wings."

"What?" Vidia said, confused.

"Fold your wings against your back. This is so you don't fly away." Jacquie explained.

Vidia obeyed, reluctantly. Jacquie carefully strapped her wings down and secured the band around her torso.

"Come on, Vidia." She pushed Vidia ahead of her. "Let's go."

**My first follow! Hence, another chapter. Thanks, _LokiXSif_!**


	3. Battle on the Rooftop

Disclaimer in Chapter One

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 3**

**Battle on the Rooftop**

They climbed up a ladder that Jacquie had fastened near a hole in the roof, and they clambered out onto the ridge of the roof, which was just wide enough for a fairy to walk.

Vidia looked down at the street, then looked at the roof. It was covered in large birds.

"Get behind me." Jacquie told her. "Use this on the birds and don't do anything stupid." she handed Vidia the fork. Vidia checked and found it was blunted.

"How am I supposed to use this?" she demanded. "My hands are tied."

"They're tied in front of you."

"I still have a problem." Vidia pointed out.

Jacquie pulled the pencil out and held it in front of her, counting the birds. "If I let you go you'll pull off the wing-strap and fly away. I'm not having that. Besides, I'm good at getting rid of birds."

"Had some practice, have you?" Vidia turned to face a large blackbird that turned toward her.

"You have no idea."

A pigeon jumped forward and tried to peck at Jacquie's head. Jacquie used her pencil to thwack it's beak, she ran and slid underneath the bird, and pushed one foot off the roof ridge, making it loose it's balance. The bird took off. Seeing the commotion, several other birds left, too.

Vidia stared, impressed, then heard something behind her. Remembering the blackbird, she spun around and found it's face right next to her. A large black eye was examining her. She held the fork up tentatively and when the bird tried to peck at her she just moved the prongs so that it was a shield. She didn't really want to hurt the bird, so she flipped the fork around and slammed the handle down right between the bird's eyes.

With a displeased caw, it flew away, going after easier prey. Vidia glanced over to Jacquie.  
>Jacquie slammed the pencil down over her enemy's beak so hard that it almost broke. Then she kicked him in the chin, forcing his head back up.<p>

That bird flew away and Jacquie turned to the next. She bent her knees and breathed steadily. The bird cautiously came up and Jacquie dropped to her stomach and swung the pencil so it hit the bird's foot hard. The bird flapped into the air, holding it's foot tenderly. Jacquie rolled smoothly to her feet and was back in position to fight again.

Vidia awkwardly held the fork upright with her knees and tried to saw the grass tie off her wrists. She jabbed at it until it was weak enough that she could stretch it and pull her hands out. She took the fork up with both hands and looked around for any enemies. Jacquie was fighting the last morning dove and all the other birds were gone. Vidia frowned.

_Why did they all leave at the same time?_

Then something shielded her from the sun, casting a shadow over a good part of the roof. Vidia glanced up in time to see the open mouth of a hawk.  
>"AH!" she screamed, stepping backwards, but she used the fork to defend herself. The hawk, unfazed, saw Jacquie and turned to swoop down on her. Jacquie's opponent bird quickly took off, and Jacquie paused, worried.<p>

_Let her die – you'll be free._ A thought came unbidden into Vidia's head.

"Jacquie – look out!" she screamed.

Jacquie glanced at her, then up toward the hawk. She stepped back, but instead of getting her balance like Vidia had, she stepped off the edge of the ridge.

Vidia had no time to speak. She reached for Jacquie as she fell, but there was no time, and she wasn't close enough.

Jacquie grabbed the drainpipe down at the end of the sloped roof, but it was round and slippery.

"Hold on!" Vidia shouted.

Jacquie let go.

Vidia could hardly breathe, but she couldn't go look for Jacquie – or her dead body. She turned and the hawk was standing near her. She held up her fork and the hawk flew into the air. Vidia breathed a sigh of relief and turned to start down the roof, but suddenly something hit her from behind and she sprawled forward. The fork was knocked from her hand and she reached for it, but just as she grabbed it the hawk's talons grabbed her waist and lifted her into the air.

"AH!" Vidia yelled, scared. She held the fork tightly and slammed the handle into the hawk's feet several times.

_He hasn't moved from over the roof – so if I could just get him to drop me . . ._ Vidia flipped the fork around and hit it with the blunted tips. That seemed to hurt him.

Suddenly, Vidia was falling through the air. She landed on her stomach, hard. She moaned at the impact and lifted her head to look for her fork. It had landed just a little way away on the ridge, but was right on the edge – it had almost fallen off the roof like Jacquie.

Vidia unsteadily got to her feet, unaware that the hawk had landed behind her and was hopping toward her.

Vidia reached down to grab the fork, but she jerked when she heard the hawk moving behind her. She bumped the fork and it bounced merrily down the slope of the roof and off the edge.

She backed away from the hawk, weaponless.


	4. Starting the Journey

Disclaimer in Chapter One

Look at the end of chapter for * notes.

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 4**

**Starting the Journey**

The hawk reached forward to peck at her, but suddenly a pencil flew through the air and slammed sideways into his head. Then it rebounded and rolled back down the roof to Jacquie.

Vidia's mouth opened slightly in surprise as she turned. Jacquie was standing on the gutter pipe holding the olive fork in one hand. She picked up the pencil with the other, and used them to help her walk up the roof. She stepped between Vidia and the hawk, facing her new enemy. The hawk drew back slightly. Jacquie was a different sort of fairy – she had a scary streak.

The hawk stuck it's neck forward to take a nibble, but Jacquie swung her weapons to the side and used them to strike the hawk's beak simultaneously from either side.

The bird drew back and Jacquie hurled the pencil like a spear toward his eye, but he ducked, the pencil skimming his feathers. Jacquie took the chance to take a running start and jump onto his back, still holding the two-pronged fork in her hands.

She used his smooth back as a slide and landed firmly behind him. Jacquie slid the fork underneath him and it stopped at Vidia's feet.

"Get him to step back!" Jacquie ordered.

"How?" Vidia asked, desperately, but got no reply. She turned the point toward the hawk and thrust it forward, pretending that she was about to impale it. The hawk moved back, and then Vidia saw Jacquie lying underneath it. She used the pencil to force one of it's feet off the level ridge on to the tilted roof. The bird stumbled, moving it's other foot onto the roof, too, and then took off, unhappy at the fight that his lunch had put up.

Jacquie rolled to her feet. "That went pretty well. She turned to Vidia and found herself face to beak with a carrion bird.

"Great." Jacquie poised the pencil to kill the bird, but suddenly it squawked and flew off, revealing Vidia holding the fork, which had several black feathers twisted around it.

"That's why it squawked." Jacquie grinned. "Nice job, Vidia."

Vidia nodded. "Thanks."

Jacquie held her pencil at the ready. "Put the fork down."

"_What?"_ Vidia exclaimed, outraged. "Not a thank you? I just saved your life."

"You just saved _it's _life. There's a difference." Jacquie said, sarcastically. "Besides, even if you had saved my life, I still would be doing this. Now _put down the fork._" She took a large step forward.

"And if I don't?" Vidia challenged.

"Don't go there." Jacquie warned, taking another step. "You don't really want that."

"Oh, I think I do."

Jacquie took a final step forward. She was standing only an inch * or so from Vidia.

With one quick strike Vidia's ankle felt like it'd been burned – another and she was on one knee. The olive fork flew from her fingers and then she was on her back on the roof without her really realized what had happened.

"I did warn you." Jacquie gave an apologetic smile.

"Thanks a lot." Vidia responded, sarcastically, getting up.

"Hands." Jacquie ordered. Vidia glared.

Jacquie sighed. "Do we have to go through all that again?"

Vidia reluctantly held out her hands, and Jacquie wrapped her wrists tightly with another length of grass rope, tying it securely.

"Let's go." Jacquie made her go first.

They walked down the ridge. Vidia climbed awkwardly down to the drainpipe.

"Where do we go from here? It's a dead end." Vidia pointed out.

Jacquie pointed to the laundry line. "There."

"What?" Vidia said, horrified. "I can't walk across that."

"And I wouldn't expect you to." Jacquie assured her. She reached under the drain pipe. She grabbed a small basket and a rope. She looped the rope around the laundry line and then tied it to either side of the basket.

"We're going to ride in it?"

"Don't bounce. It _has_ turned upside down occasionally."

"I take everything back. Put me back in the dungeon – or the closet – or just kill me and be done." Vidia begged. "I can't do this."

"Sorry. I'm not a cold-blooded killer, and you'd probably escape if I left you behind. I made up my mind and I won't change it. Get in."

Vidia shot her a sore glance.

"I could knock you out." Jacqiue offered. "You'd wake up on the other side."

Her pride couldn't take it. Vidia straightened and gave her most arrogant stare. She flipped her hair, stepped into the basket and sat down.

"_Right _then_._" Jacquie said, hurt. "Blimey, try to be nice for a change and . . ." She reached under the pipe again and grabbed another one. "Lucky I made this the other day -"  
>"Wait – what?" Vidia stood up. "You're not coming in here with me?"<p>

"You want it to break or something?" Jacquie chortled. "Good luck!" she shoved Vidia's basket off.

Vidia gripped the basket with both hands as the wind whipped her hair back. She didn't like the way the basket was making cracking sounds – like it was going to break. The length between the buildings seemed incredibly long. She was getting closer – closer – closer – then she slammed to a stop, the basket swinging wildly back and forth. She looked up and saw a pulley that the rope had run into.

Jacquie's basket was coming right for her. Vidia backed into the opposite side of the basket, not wanting to run into her, but a crash seemed inevitable.

Jacquie suddenly jumped from the basket and caught hold of the laundry line with both hands. The basket slid harmlessly to a stop.

Jacquie climbed acrobatically to Vidia's basket and jumped in. "Okay, one more stretch of line." she assured her.

"Another one?" Vidia groaned. "Get it over with."

"Grab my hand – climb onto the drainpipe." Jacquie ordered.

Vidia obeyed and stood unsteadily on the pipe as Jacquie unfastened the two baskets and slung them over her shoulder.

"After you." Jacquie gestured politely for her to walk along the drainpipe.

Vidia walked until they got to the other laundry line. Jacquie fastened the baskets carefully and Vidia stepped straight into hers.

"Have fun." Jacquie smiled widely.

"Yeah. Break a leg." Vidia shut her eyes as Jacquie pushed her basket and it started going down.

As the wind whipped into her face she realized that it might actually be fun. She smiled and opened her eyes - wider - wider – until they were big as pennies.

There was laundry on the line.

"AH!" Vidia screamed.

The basket and laundry collided and the basket flipped upside down.

*** Please recall that the average fairy is 5 inches tall.**


	5. Climb off the Clothesline

Disclaimer in Chapter One

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 5**

**Climb off the Clothesline**

Vidia had no time to grab hold of anything. She was falling for only a split second.

Her ankle was tangled in the rope of the basket. Her hair dangled above her head, pulling painfully, but she hardly noticed.

"Jacquie?" she called, tentatively. She reached up but her fingertips just brushed the edge of the basket. "Jacquie!" she shouted. She turned her head and suddenly saw Jacquie's basket heading straight for hers.

Jacquie wasn't prepared to stop this time, and the two baskets collided. Jacquie clutched the rope and Vidia's ankle got untangled. Vidia made a desperate effort to reach up and grab the basket – and she just managed it. The basket slid up and she was dangling from the rim.

"Don't let go!" Jacquie called, climbing down into her now righted basket.

"You're telling _me_?" Vidia demanded, gripping it with all her strength. "I'd have a strong grip right now if you hadn't tied my hands!"

"I'm not going to let you fall." Jacquie panted. She reached down and grabbed Vidia's forarms. She pulled her into the basket, which listed precariously.

Vidia shook off Jacquie's hands and grabbed the rope for balance. "You're insane!"

"I just saved your life!" Jacquie protested.

"You aren't safe!" Vidia pointed out. "How did you ever invent this?"

"I used to just climb across, but I figured that it would be quicker to slide a basket across."

Vidia shook her head. "I almost died."

"But I saved you. Anyway, we'd better get going." Jacquie fished in her backpack.

"How?"

"You'll see." Jacquie suddenly pulled out an armful of feathers.

"Oh great. Those are wings?" Vidia groaned. "You're going to rescue us with those?"

"They work."

"For _two_ fairies?" Vidia asked, suspiciously.

"A first time for everything. Don't argue. You're my prisoner."

"I'd really rather argue. No way am I going anywhere near those."

"You are. You're my -"

"All right! I get it. You captured me. But I'm still not using those." Vidia rebelled.

**The Little Fairy**

"Waking up, are you?"

Vidia jerked. She ached all over. She checked – her wings were restrained and her wrists were still tied in front of her.

"Ow!" she groaned "I'm so sore. What happened?"

"I gave you aspirin."

"I don't remember." Vidia shook her head slowly.

"Probably a side effect." Jacquie shrugged. "Anyway, then we tried out my wings."

"And we're _alive_?" Vidia sat up, trying to stretch.

"You actually were kind of right. I probably shouldn't have used them. It didn't work very well." Jacquie admitted.

"How – not very well?"

Jacquie shrugged. "Bumpy landing is all. I sort of dropped you."

"You 'sort of' dropped me!" Vidia cried. "You irresponsible, kidnappering, detestable fairy!"

"Save it for later." Jacquie ordered, back into travel mode. "We have to get going – we need to make it a bit further before we stop for the night."

**The Little Fairy**

Vidia woke again. "This is getting tiresome." she said, aloud.

"I couldn't have a potential enemy awake while I slept, could I?" Jacquie pointed out. "It was the only solution. Besides, tying you to a different chimney and leaving you awake would be uncomfortable. I'm just trying to be nice."

"It isn't working." Vidia got up. "What's for breakfast?"

"I have some -" Jacquie frowned, thinking, then turned around and started rummaging through her bag.

Vidia stretched again, then stared at the sky.

"Tink!" she screamed. "Tinkerbell! Down here! Tink!" She sprinted across the rooftop.

Jacquie jerked and saw her running away. "No, no, no _no!_" she took off after her escaping prisoner.

Vidia reached the edge of the roof. "Fawn! Tinkerbell!" she shrieked at the two fairies – but they weren't close enough.

"I'd even take a clothesline about now." she muttered. She looked around and suddenly noticed a small bride spanning the gap between the buildings. _Must be a lost fairy bridge._ She decided, and made for it.

She was suddenly tackled to the ground. Jacquie had caught up.

"Vidia! That was ridiculous. Your friends are way too far away, and you know you can't beat me." Jacquie rolled her over, and Vidia held up her bound hands as a gesture of surrender.

"Sorry, but I can't have you screaming like that." Jacquie pulled out a gag. She placed it gently in between Vidia's teeth, and Vidia bit her.

Jacquie pulled away with a cry of pain, and Vidia awkwardly rolled to her feet. She raced toward the little footbridge and reached it just as Jacquie started to follow her.

Vidia raced across it – in other circumstances she would have noticed it wasn't safe, but she didn't notice then. She reached the other side in a dangerously short time, then noticed that the bridge was tied to a small hook.

"Jacquie – don't follow me!" Vidia shouted, warningly, and Jacquie stepped back off the other end of the bridge.

Vidia quickly untied both knots and let the bridge fall, cutting Jacquie off from her. Jacquie face was impassive, but Vidia knew she had a plan. She turned and ran to where she'd seen Tink and Fawn, not looking back.

She pulled herself up onto the stone edging of the roof and looked down. She scanned the road. She spotted them farther up the road. "Tink! Fawn!" she screamed. "Help! HELP!"

Fawn stopped flying forward. She just hovered in the air, listening.

"Fawn! Fawn!" Vidia yelled. "TINKERBELL!"

They both started looking around.


	6. Araminta

Disclaimer in Chapter One

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 6**

**Araminta**

"Look up!" Vidia shouted. "I'm up here!" She jumped off the edging and sprinted to the corner of the building where she'd be closer to her friends.

She was tackled to the ground again.

"Biting isn't fair play." Jacquie said, reproachfully. "You shouldn't have done that."  
>"Kidnapping isn't fair play." Vidia snarled. "They heard me call. They'll see you."<p>

"They know you haven't got pixie dust anymore. They'll assume you're on the ground. And they'll be wrong." Jacquie shrugged. "Sorry."

She shoved a sliver of aspirin down Vidia's throat and held her mouth shut.

_Like she's practiced._ Vidia noticed, trying not to swallow. Then she had to.

**The Little Fairy**

"Would you like a drink?" It sounded kind of like Silvermist.

Vidia blinked. She was lying on a padded bench, her hands still tied in front of her.

"I'm Araminta." Araminta smiled, in a friendly sort of way. "Jacquie comes to me for information on other lost fairies, and I've sorted a way for the two of you to -"

"Oh. I see. Lost fairies, isn't it?" Vidia said, sarcastically. "You don't seem to care that your friend kidnapped me. Doesn't matter to you?"

Araminta drew back. "Don't be cross. I trust my friends. Jacquie's my friend. Therefore she must have a good reason for having kidnapped you. I don't need an explanation from her."

"You horrid creature." Vidia sat up.

Araminta drew away, offended. Then she seemed to recover. "You can call me Minta." she gave another smile and stood up. "When you feel recovered from the aspirin you can join Jacquie and me in the other room through this door." she left.

Vidia stood unsteadily and tested the strength of the wall. It seemed to be made of thick cardboard or thin wood, but she couldn't get through.

Eventually she decided that she'd go after Araminta. She stepped through the doorway. Jacquie was speaking to Araminta in a serious tone.

"You're sure there isn't anyone else? We aren't the greatest allies, you know."

"I'm pretty sure she's the only one."

Jacquie looked up at Vidia, noticing her for the first time. She sighed, turning back to Araminta. "Then we'll go to her." Jacquie decided. "Thank you so much for all your help, Minta."

"My pleasure. It's good to see you. How are your humans?"

"They're all doing well." Jacquie nodded. "How's yours?"

"I think he's gone mad." Araminta nodded, slowly. "Hard to tell . . . he's always been a little insane."

"Yeah." Jacquie got up and stretched. "Thanks for all the help – and for the book. I'm going to go and pack up for the next stretch of journey. Can you explain to Vidia what's going on? I don't think she feels like talking to me right now."

"Sure." Araminta smiled. "Vidia, come sit down."

"No, thanks." Vidia took a few steps toward her and watched Jacquie as she strode from the room, then turned back to Araminta. "What are you going to explain to me?"

"You and Jacquie are going to meet another lost fairy. Her name is Cassie. She collects magical . . . objects. Rings, stones, that sort of thing." Araminta explained. "If there is a way to turn Jacquie into a human, Cassie'll know."

"Why doesn't Jacquie want to go to Cassie?" Vidia queried.

"They aren't great friends." Araminta smirked, wistfully. "You should ask Jacquie about that."

"Why can't you tell me?" Vidia persisted, frustrated.

"We need to leave." Jacquie appeared in the doorway. "Come on, Vidia."

Vidia stood, seething that she had to obey. But she could still protest.

"I bet Tink and Fawn saw me." she said. "They'll come looking – and they'll find you, too, Minta."

Minta frowned, but Vidia raised an eyebrow. "Is that something you want?"

"Let's go, Vidia." Jacquie pushed Vidia ahead of her out the door. She turned back to Araminta. "Don't worry. She's trying to make you nervous." she offered a cocky grin. "The next time you see me I'll be human. Drop by sometime."

Jacquie followed Vidia out of the door.

**The Little Fairy**

"How far are we from Cassie's home?" Vidia asked, shifting closer to the fire. They'd walked over almost a hundred buildings. The sky was getting dark, but over the edge of the roof Vidia could see the lampposts being lit.

"Not too far." Jacquie assured her. "Not as far as we've gone today."

"Oh, good." Vidia relished in relaxing for a few minutes. Then she couldn't stop herself from asking. "Why aren't you and Cassie friends?"

"She's a power hoarder." Jacquie replied.

"She hoards power." Vidia's tone made it a question.

"No – she . . . hm. She collects things that give her power over other people. Magical objects, things that people want. Then everyone either has to give her something in return, or else owe her a favor."

"That's why you don't like her." Vidia nodded. "That makes sense. But why doesn't she like you?"

"There was an – incident. I think every lost fairy owes something to Araminta, (she doesn't want anything in return, of course) but that's why Cassie and I came when she asked us to help. Her human had gotten into trouble. He was studying fairies, you see, and he managed to – you can't know the details – it's sort of secret, but he got captured by a fairy scientist. We had the choice to either save Araminta's human, or else get a _very_ large amount of pixie dust. In the end, the choice was mine, and I saved the human. Cassie had wanted to get the pixie dust. She _said it_ was because she wanted to get home to pixie hollow, but I never believed her."

"Pixie hollow." Vidia sighed. "You're actually a really nice person, Jacquie."

"Thanks!" Jacquie smiled.

"I'm starting to dread when my friends catch up with us. There is no way they'd let you get away with kidnapping me." Vidia offered a sad smile. "I sure wonder what they're doing now."


	7. Cintamani Stone

Disclaimer in Chapter One

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 7**

**Cintamani Stone**

"My wings are getting _really_ tired, Fawn." Tinkerbell dropped onto a rooftop. "Can we rest for a few minutes?"

"Sure." Fawn sat down next to her. "I hope she's all right. I think my heart stopped when the lid came off that jar and she wasn't there."

"Terrifying." Tink agreed.

"How long has it been now?"

"It's the end of the second day."

"So much could happen in two days." Fawn slammed her hand to the ground in frustration. "OW!" she cried.

"Are you okay?" Tinkerbell leaned over to look.

"My hand landed on – the handle of a trap door." Fawn used her wings to rise into the air and settle down again on the other side of the door. "It's a fairy-size trap door."

"Come on!" Tinkerbell pulled it open and flew in. Fawn followed. They flew down the ladder, then down a tunnel, and reached a door painted to look like flowers. They landed, looking at it.

"Do we knock?" Fawn asked.

Tinkerbell shrugged and proceeded to knock incredibly loudly.

The door opened slowly. Large purple eyes looked at them curiously. Suddenly a fairy yanked the door wide open.

"You're glowing!" she exclaimed. "You have pixie dust!"

Fawn blinked. "Yeah." she replied.

"Then you aren't lost fairies. You're Vidia's friends!"

"Uh . ." Fawn held up a hand. "I don't know if you could say we're friends . . . "

"Who are you and where is she?" Tinkerbell pushed her way into the house and confronted the fairy.

"I'm Araminta." she answered. "I'm sort of glad you're here, 'cause I don't think she's safe."

**The Little Fairy**

"Don't you ever get tired, Jacquie?" Vidia collapsed to the ground. "I'm exhausted."

"I get tired – but I walk a lot. I'm used to it." Jacquie replied. She reached into her bag and pulled out a large book. She handed it to Vidia.

"You can read through this a bit if you'd like. It's a book of enchanted objects that Araminta loaned me. I don't know which ones Cassie has."

Vidia opened it. "Magical rings." she browsed through a bit. "Ring of dispel: a ring that purges magic or enchantment from other magical objects it touches."

"Not useful." Jacquie responded, firmly. "Keep going."

"Magical stones." Vidia flipped a few pages. Oh, there's a lot of those. How about the Sessho-seki stone?"

"What does it do?" Jacquie asked.

"It kills anyone who touches it." Vidia responded.

"that isn't what I was looking for." Jacquie said, in a confiding tone.

"No kidding." Vidia smiled. "Okay, then there's the Cintamani stone. The cintamani stone grants wishes."

"I could use that." Jacquie sat down next to her. "What does it say?"

"The cintamani stone – grants wishes." Vidia repeated. "That's all – except there's a painting here – done by an art-talent fairy. See?"

"There's a picture of all of the magical objects." Jacquie noted. "That must be useful for making sure you don't touch the wrong stone."

"They may not be accurate. They're not all drawn from the real stone – some are from what people remember it to be – or legend." Vidia pointed out.

"Spoilsport." Jacquie scolded. "Let's keep going. We may get close to Cassie's home today."

"Get close to?" Vidia frowned. "Don't you mean get _to_?"

"I'm not going into the home of a vague acquaintance who holds a grudge against me without having a good night's sleep." Jacquie pointed out. "If we get into sight, we'll back off and sleep. In the morning, we'll announce ourselves."

Vidia nodded and got to her feet.

"Which roof are we crossing to from here?" she asked, surveying the nearby rooftops.

"Shhh."

"Huh?" Vidia turned around to look at Jacquie. "AH!" she stumbled backwards, even though Jacquie was between her and the bird. The _very_ hungry looking bird.

"Stay quiet." Jacquie ordered. "My bag is next to you. Grab my pencil and slide it to me."

Vidia pulled it out and considered for a moment impaling Jacquie, defeating the bird on her own, then finding Tinkerbell and the others, but she quickly quelled the thought and obeyed, sliding it across the roof to Jacquie.

Jacquie slipped her toe underneath the center of the pencil and flipped it up into the air. She caught it with one hand. She'd hardly moved at all.

"Maybe we could just go around." Vidia suggested, nervously.

"Don't worry." Jacquie rolled her eyes. "This should be a cinch." she started to move toward the bird.

"Be careful." Vidia winced as the bird came forward.

Suddenly she heard the sound of flapping wings and she turned, wind blowing in her face. A blackbird landed in front of her.

Vidia stared up at it. Suddenly it opened its mouth incredibly wide and cawed loudly.

Vidia covered her ears, backing away. The bird jumped forward. Vidia screamed and hurled Araminta's book at it. It bounced of the bird's chest and onto the ground. The bird looked down at it curiously, then suddenly snapped it up.

"Hey!" Vidia yelled. "Spit that out!"

The bird swallowed.

"Now the bird _and_ Jacquie are going to kill me." she moaned, leaning down and rummaging through the bag for the olive fork.

The bird hopped forward, deciding that the book was only an appetizer. Vidia gave up looking for the fork and swung the bag by a strap as a weapon, just swinging it to keep the large bird away.

"Go away!" Vidia told it. "You nasty crow!"

The bird reached forward and snagged the bag on a claw, throwing it to one side. Vidia hung onto the bag and was thrown forward, falling on her face on the roof.

_This would be a good time to have my hands untied. _Vidia tried to use her hands to push herself up but she suddenly felt dizzy and fell back down. Lying on her back, her sense of time strangely distorted, she wrenched on her hands, trying to get them free, but she couldn't.

Then she noticed the crow standing over her, beak open.

**I'm sorry for the delay in putting up this chapter. I've had a lot of distractions.**


	8. A Lesson

Disclaimer in Chapter One

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 8**

**A Lesson**

Vidia flung her arms over her face as the beak descended. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the bird Jacquie had been fighting was taking off into the air – several pretty feathers missing from it's back.

Then Jacquie was standing over her, the pencil inserted into the blackbird's beak.

"Vidia – get up!" Jacquie ordered, impatiently. "Get away!"

Vidia scrambled to her feet and ran. She knew Jacquie could take care of the bird easily, and didn't want to get in the way. She scanned the sky worriedly for any more birds, but she didn't see any.

After a few swings of Jacquie's pencil, the bird took back off into the air, off to find more easily defeated dinner.

"That was fun." Jacquie twirled the pencil in her hand.

"Maybe for you!" Vidia snapped. "I almost got eaten." she suddenly found that she wanted to annoy Jacquie. "Maybe if you had let me have my hands free then I'd have been able to save Araminta's book. The one she _loaned_ you."

"Save?" Jacquie looked uncertain.

"The bird _ate _it." Vidia gave an arrogant smile and nodded. "See?"

"All I see is that you need a fighting lesson." Jacquie pointed out. "You really don't know what you're doing at all."

"I don't usually have to fight. I fly. No one can catch me when I fly."

"Good. So we'll work on your _non-flying_ skills." Jacquie took out a sharp pin and sliced through the grass tying Vidia's hands together.

Vidia shook them to get them feeling normal again, but they tingled for a while.

"I won't tie them as tight next time." Jacquie promised.

"Thanks a lot." Vidia snarled.

"So, then, what you want to learn is how to get back up quickly. If you get knocked down, like you did back there." Jacquie said, thinking carefully. "If you get knocked down like this." Jacquie threw herself to the ground. "You just make that force change direction and roll – like this." Jacquie rolled and came up on one knee, and quickly rose to her feet. "It isn't hard, and if you'd known to do that, I wouldn't have had to rescue you at that point. Of course I'd have had to rescue you later, but that's a different move. Try rolling."

Vidia gave her a suspicious glance and threw herself on the ground, imitating Jacquie. "Ow. That hurt." she commented, lying on her face.

Jacquie nodded. "That was a pretty good job of falling flat on your face. Now, try rolling."

Vidia rolled to one knee but wasn't going fast enough.

"You have to roll faster." Jacquie instructed. "Get up and try it again."

Vidia obeyed, and rolled too fast. She came up on one knee and landed flat on her face again.

"You'll get it!" Jacquie was trying to be encouraging.

"I feel so much better already." Vidia muttered, sarcastically. She pushed herself off the ground and got to her feet to try it again.

**The Little Fairy**

"We're on a _bridge_, Jacquie. Can't it wait?" Vidia pointed out, holding the olive fork at the ready.

Jacquie shrugged, walking backwards down the bridge. "I don't mind – and you should get used to it. I'm going to thrust or swing. You need to parry either one. Okay? Ready?"

"Jacquie!" Vidia interrupted. "It isn't safe. This bridge isn't even safe. We need to wait and practice when we get to the other side."

"You're spoiling all the fun, Vidia."

"Aren't you afraid that I'll get better than you, knock you out during practice and run away?" Vidia asked, bluntly.

"You? Get better than me?" Jacquie snorted a laugh.

Vidia glared.

"I don't think it's gonna happen, Vidia. I'm sorry." Jacquie gave a sympathetic smile. "Parry." She swung the pencil.

**The Little Fairy**

"How far?" Vidia asked, for the third time in as many minutes.

"That's determined by your pace." Jacquie pointed out. "And whether you keep stopping to ask me 'how far.'"

"Never mind." Vidia continued stepping slowly through the water puddling around her feet.

"Hey – look on the bright side." Jacquie shrugged. "My powers as a fairy are keeping us from being rained on."

Jacquie's powers worked like an invisible umbrella, deflecting the water to the side in a square over their heads.

"That makes my feet so much warmer." Vidia shot her a dry look.

"Would you like to stop?"

"I'd like to get off this ridge and onto a proper, flat roof where I don't have to fear falling at every step." Vidia replied, snappily.

"You won't fall." Jacquie laughed, not looking back.

"But I could." Vidia insisted. "That roof is _really_ steep. I could fall and land in the gutter and get _stepped on_ by a human!" She took a few hurried steps to lean over Jacquie's shoulder to make her words more emphatic.

"What am I supposed to do about that?" Jacquie asked, helplessly.

"_Apologize_ for bringing me along!"

"It wasn't actually my fault that you had to come with. It was yours." Jacquie pointed out. "You started tearing up the castle."

"It was a bad choice." Vidia admitted, miserably. "I should've waited to see if you'd left – and then started tearing up the castle."

"You really don't care for that castle – do you?"  
>"You put me in the <em>dungeon<em>."

"Because _you_ made trouble."

Vidia rolled her eyes. "AH!" she screamed, as she slipped and landed on the tilted roof. She held very still, trying not to fall any more.

Jacquie turned back toward her, startled. Distracted, she stopped holding back the water, and they both were soaked quickly.

"Stay perfectly still, Vidia!" Jacquie started toward her.

A large raindrop landed on Vidia's shoulder and she jerked instinctively. She started sliding down. "Jacquie!" she shrieked.  
>"Hang on!" Jacquie dived for her hand and missed.<p>

Vidia rolled down to the end of the roof and managed to grab onto the drainpipe.

Vidia suddenly noticed a British flag hanging limply right next to her. It ended fairly close to the ground. She glanced up at Jacquie.

"Hang on, Vidia!" Jacquie called, walking cautiously down the roof. "I'll be right there."

Making her choice, Vidia let go.


	9. Free to Go

Disclaimer in Chapter One

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 9**

**Freed**

Vidia grabbed hold of the flag and slid down. She tightened her grip as she got to the end and managed to stop. She hung there for a moment, then let go. She hit the ground and rolled to her feet. She glanced around, and suddenly spotted a set of wooden steps next to her, leading up to a house. She dived through a crack and huddled underneath, peering through a crack to see if Jacquie had followed her down yet.

Finally, Jacquie slid down a post that held up the porch roof. "Vidia?" she called, looking around. "Vidia?"

Jacquie turned around suddenly, just as two large pigeons landed next to her, intent on having their mid-rain snack.

Vidia pulled back into her hiding place.

"She'll be find." she told herself. "She'll beat them, then keep going to meet Cassie. I'll just wait until she's gone, then go find Tink and Fawn."

She peeked out and suddenly realized that three other birds had landed.

_She can handle them!_ Vidia wanted to believe that. She didn't want to be caught again.

Several more birds landed.

Vidia sighed. _Too many. _She decided, reluctantly. She squeezed out from underneath the stairs, intent on helping Jacquie. She paused, trying to figure out a plan. "Jacquie! Shield yourself with your talent!" she yelled.

Jacquie turned, surprised.

Vidia took a deep breath and used her hands to create a large wind circling Jacquie, and leaving the birds outside.

Most of the birds flew away immediately, and the braver ones waited only a few moments. Vidia allowed her wind to burst, and saw Jacquie on one knee, shielding herself.

Jacquie let her weather-barrier fall. She stood, and regarded Vidia awkwardly. "Nice wind." she managed.

"Strong barrier."

"Thanks." Jacquie slung her pencil onto her back. "That was a tough spot."

Vidia shrugged. "Okay – how far are we from Cassie's home?"

"Not very far."

"How long will it take us?" Vidia asked.

"It'll take only an hour or two, but then I'll stop for the night, to make sure I'm fully alert when I meet Cassie." Jacquie hesitated. "You could have left, but you didn't. You chose to help me instead. I don't think anyone else has done that for me."

"Just trying out being a normal, decent fairy." Vidia said. "It won't happen again."

"I'm going to try out being a normal, decent fairy in return." Jacquie said, firmly. "Just this once."

Vidia remained silent, watching her guardedly.

"You can go." Jacquie decided.

A bird flew by overhead. Vidia noticed a rat scurrying down the other end of the street, splashing through the puddles.

"What?"

"You can go to your friends. Normal fairies. I'm so near to Cassie now that your Fairy Queen can't stop me."  
>"Huh. If she wanted to." Vidia snorted. "Which – she might, actually." Vidia paused, thoughtfully. "Thanks, Jacquie."<p>

"You're welcome. I sort of like you as a friend." Jacquie turned and started walking away."

Vidia didn't move. "Something is seriously wrong with that fairy." she muttered.

She stood, thinking, for a minute, and Jacquie reached a post and started climbing to get back onto the roofs.

"Something is seriously wrong with _this _fairy." Vidia realized, and suddenly she sprinted forward. "Jacquie! Wait!"

Jacquie stopped and turned.

"I've come this far." Vidia said, as she slowed to a stop. "I might as well finish it with you."

Jacquie gaped. "That's ridiculous. I kidnapped you."

"And this 'Cassie' fairy doesn't sound particularly safe. There's strength in numbers."

"You're crazy."

"Besides, you'd miss me."

Jacquie laughed. "I think I would." she admitted. "All right, let's go."

**The Little Fairy**

Jacquie pulled herself up to peek over the edge of the roof. The sun hadn't risen in the east, and the sky was just now turning a dim gray.

"That's is." she nodded toward the large building up against the chimney on the flat roof.

"That's a nice house." Vidia commented.  
>"Sh."<p>

"Why?"

"Nataly." Jacquie replied, grimly.

"Who's Nataly?"

"Cassie's bodyguard."

"She has a bodyguard? And you didn't feel like telling me before?"

"I didn't think about it." Jacquie admitted.

"Why does she have a guard?"

"She's a paranoid sort of person."

"Where is Nataly, anyway?" Vidia glanced around.

"I don't know, and that makes me nervous." Jacquie pulled herself up and climbed onto the edge of the roof in a defensive position.

Vidia scrambled up after her. "Are you sure that Nataly is even here?"  
>"We're more likely to see her if she isn't here than if she is."<p>

"What's that supposed to mean?" Vidia demanded.

"She's a bodyguard. Professional. We won't see her until she wants us to." Jacquie looked around, and gave a quick glance up toward the chimneytops.

Vidia looked around, too, but she wasn't sure what she was looking for.

"Let's go." Jacquie started across the roof toward the house and Vidia followed, more slowly.

_She looks pretty scary – even walking. She looks like she can take care of herself – that's an understatement. She can take care of anyone who bothers her. _Vidia noticed.

Lost in thought, she walked behind Jacquie. She heard a soft thump, and Jacquie stopped. Vidia looked up.

A blond-haired fairy stood before them, holding two deadly-sharp pins, one in each hand.

Vidia took an involuntary step back as Jacquie stepped forward, holding her hands out, palms facing Nataly.

"We're here to talk to Cassie. We aren't hostile." Jacquie said, in a friendly manner. "I'm going to put my pencil on the ground. I won't act dangerous in any way."

Nataly stiffened as Jacquie pulled the pencil out, but Jacquie simply put it down on the porch. She kicked it gently away. "We need to talk to Cassie."

"You will not talk to Cassie." Nataly said, in a deep voice, and a tone that was certainly not a request.

"Why not?"

"She doesn't like visitors."

"This is urgent." Jacquie said, impatiently. "I need to speak to her."  
>"You will not talk to Cassie."<p>

"I will speak to her with or without your permission." Jacquie said, warningly.  
>"If you do not leave immediately, I will throw you both off the roof." Nataly threatened.<p>

"Oh, look here!" Vidia said, pointedly. "You haven't even asked her if she wants to see us! Can't you just do that?" She took a step forward.

Nataly took a step forward to meet her, and suddenly punched her in the face. Vidia spun around from the blow, and, losing her balance, fell on the floor.

As Nataly threw the punch, Jacquie dived to her pencil, and rolled to her feet, holding the weapon tightly in both hands.

Vidia blinked and rolled into a sitting position, trying to clear her now fuzzy head.

Nataly stepped toward Jacquie. "Leave. Now." she ordered.

"Not a chance, Nataly." Jacquie said, gravely. "I'm not going anywhere."


	10. Cassie

Disclaimer in Chapter One

**The Little Fairy  
>Chapter 10<strong>

**Cassie**

Nataly didn't respond, but her knuckles turned white as she gripped her weapons tightly, ready to fight.

Jacquie simply stood opposite Nataly, unmoving, as Vidia started to climb to her feet a few inches away.

Nataly suddenly swung one pin forward, but Jacquie used her pencil to block the blow. Nataly used the other to try to stab her, but Jacquie spun the pencil, trying to wound Nataly. Both moved away from the other's weapon, and stood back for a moment, weighing weaknesses and strengths.

Vidia slid the backpack off her shoulders and pulled out the two-pronged fork.

She held it in both hands.

"Jacquie." she said, and neither fairy looked in her direction. Vidia lightly tapped the fork prongs against the ground, hoping that Jacquie would recognize the sound and understand.

Jacquie suddenly hurled her pencil toward Nataly, who dived to one side. Jacquie turned to Vidia. "Here!" she shouted, and Vidia tossed her the fork. Jacquie turned back just in time to deflect a hard swing from one of Nataly's pins. Nataly used the other one to stap, but Jacquie moved to the side, then hit Nataly's wrist with the fork. Nataly jerked her hand back, managing to hold onto her pin. She took a step back, and so did Jacquie. They each took a few steps, circling.

_Circling to the pencil._ Vidia realized. Nataly did, too.

Jacquie ran away from Nataly toward where the pencil had landed, and Nataly ran afterward. Vidia wasn't sure what she should do, then suddenly she took off for the house.

Jacquie used her foot to flip the pencil into the air. She caught it and turned back to Nataly, fork in her left hand, pencil in her right.

Jacquie struck first, holding the fork at the ready, and bringing the pencil in a wide swing at Nataly's head. Nataly ducked easily, and used her pins to force the pencil to the ground. Jacquie jerked her pencil upward with such force that Nataly let go of one of her pins and it bounced across the floor.

Jacquie watched it for a second or two, wondering if she could get to it before Nataly, but her opponent suddenly punched her in the stomach with her free hand and knocked the fork from her hand with her remaining pin.

They each drew back, with only one weapon – the other ones far away.

Vidia pounded on the door, but neither of the fighters seemed to have heard her. She watched them carefully. She was surprised that _anyone_ could fight as well as Jacquie, let alone defeat her, but right now she was worried that Nataly could _kill_ Jacquie.

She turned back and pounded on the door again.

It opened under her hand.

The fairy wasn't tall or scary. She was shorter than Vidia, with reddish hair.

"Who are you?" she asked, surprised, then suddenly noticed Jacquie and Nataly circling warily. "No!" she called, horrified, pushing Vidia out of the way. She was surprisingly strong. "Nataly, no! Don't fight! Please! Stop fighting." she stopped between them. "No fighting. I really didn't mean for you to take that so literally, Nataly. I just was busy, that's all." she said, soothingly. "I can handle it. They aren't enemies, I'm sure."

Nataly regarded her coldly.

"I'll call you if I need you." Cassie promised. "You can go."

Nataly sheathed her pin, then turned and walked away, getting her other pin on the way.

"I am _so_ sorry." Cassie said to Jacquie. "I never meant -" she stopped short. "Jacquie?"

"Hi, Cassie." Jacquie made no move to put her weapons away.

"You got a haircut." Cassie nodded. "You sure look different."

"You do, too."

"I'm really sorry about Nataly. I hired her, but she just – she doesn't think anything is figurative. She doesn't understand when I'm joking, and I guess she thought I meant what I said when I told her to not let anyone in and to _'throw'_ them off the roof."

"Yeah. She thought you meant it all right." Jacquie replied.

Cassie remained silent for a moment. "Who's your friend?" she turned to Vidia, smiling.

"I wouldn't quite use the term 'friend'." Vidia said, coolly, walking up. "I'm Vidia."

"Nice to meet you, Vidia." Cassie smiled, pleasantly.

"She's a normal fairy." Jacquie said.

"Really?" Cassie breathed. "Come in!" she let them both into her house. "Would you like something to drink?" she was surprisingly polite.

"No, thanks." Jacquie said, sitting down and leaning her pencil against the table next to her. Vidia sat down opposite her.

Cassie sat down. "What can I do for you two?"

"It's pretty well known that you collect magical artifacts, Cassie." Jacquie began.

"Yeah. I've got a pretty big collection." Cassie smiled. "Do you want to use a spell?"

"I want to become human."

Cassie blinked. "What?"

"I want to become human."

"Why would you ever want that?" Cassie frowned,

Jacquie paused.

"She's in love with her human." Vidia replied. "Can you help her?"

"I think I can." Cassie nodded, slowly. "But I want something in return. Vidia, if you will take me back to Pixie Hollow with you, I'll let Jacquie have the Ring of the Princess. That ring fulfills it's user's greatest desire, and if you truly want to be human, it will do it."

"Done." Vidia said, "Can you get the ring right now?"

"Certainly." Cassie paused. "But your clothes aren't suitable for humans . . . Nataly!" she called.

Nataly stepped inside. "Are they bothering you?"

"No." Cassie assured her. "Can you find me a human garment?"

"At once." Nataly shut the door silently behind her.

"Good." Cassie smiled. "Follow me."

Cassie led them up a few stairs into a round room with shelves on all sides. There were stones, rings, beads, flowers, leaves – even some feathers. Vidia stayed away from them, not wanting to disturb them. Cassie picked up a shell box and was about to hand it to Jacquie. "We'd better go outside. You'll be too big in a minute." she pointed out.

She led the way back outside. "Have a seat." she told them.

There were a few stones set around, and Vidia and Jacquie each sat down, waiting. Cassie opened the box and carefully put on spiderweb gloves before touching the ring. She set it on a rock next to Jacquie.

Glancing around, Vidia noticed a human dress lying close by. Nataly wasn't in sight.  
>"Jacquie, I want you to think carefully about what you do, because there isn't any turning back." Cassie warned her.<p>

"I'm certain that this is what I want." Jacquie didn't hesitate.

"All right. Think about it. Think about being human. Then touch the ring." Cassie instructed, gravely.

"Thanks, Cassie." Jacquie said, gratefully, reaching for the ring.

Vidia held her breath.

"Don't thank me yet." Cassie muttered, in a low voice.


	11. The Ring of Dispel

Disclaimer in Chapter One

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 11**

**The Ring of Dispel**

Jacquie picked up the ring.

Vidia leaned forward to look at it.

"No! Jacquie! Drop it!" she screamed. "That's the Ring of Dispel!"

Jacquie dropped it and jumped to her feet, glancing at Cassie, who was smirking slightly.

"Why did you -" Jacquie paused, then pitched forward onto the ground.

"Jacquie!" Vidia screamed. She kicked the ring away and knelt by Jacquie. "Jacquie, say something."

"Nataly!" Cassie called. "Take Vidia into the house."

"No!" Vidia shrieked. "Jacquie! What did you do to her?"

"It wasn't me." Cassie said, smiling openly now. "It was the Ring of Dispel. The Ring removes magic and enchantments. If the magic is drawn from a fairy, they die. I've tried it before. There isn't any cure. If an enchantment is used to give them back their magic, the ring removes the enchantment in a few moments. Nothing can save her, but it will take her some time to die. Take her into the house – now." the last was directed to Nataly.

Nataly grabbed hold of Vidia's hair and pulled her to her feet.

"Let me go!"

Nataly used a piece of leave rope to tie Vidia's hands in front of her, making sure she couldn't fight back well.

"Why did you have to kill her?" Vidia demanded.  
>"She knows where my home is. No one else does – not even Araminta. I moved since anyone saw me. I don't know how Jacquie found out, but <em>no one<em> must find out." Cassie said, firmly. "She was a threat to all my magical objects. And you still are."

Nataly pushed Vidia into the house, and Cassie followed. Cassie barred the door with a thick twig. "You can go, Nataly. She won't be a problem."

Nataly disappeared through a door Vidia hadn't noticed before.

Cassie turned to Vidia. "Give me a moment." she went back to her room full of magic objects. Vidia noticed Jacquie's pencil leaning against the table.

**The Little Fairy**

"At least now we know that she lives on a rooftop." Fawn said, tiredly. "We don't have to search the streets."

"She might have been lying about the place, you know." Tinkerbell mused.

"Araminta wasn't lying." Fawn said, stubbornly. "At least not on purpose. Cassie must have moved."

"What's that down there?" Tinkerbell said, pointing. "It looks like a house!"

"And a fairy outside!" Fawn said, excitedly, and dived toward her.

"Hello! Is this Cassie's home?" Fawn asked, in a friendly tone.

The fairy didn't respond.

"Wake up!" Tinkerbell said, loudly.

"I think she's hurt." Fawn knelt beside her.

"What's this?" Tinkerbell gestured toward the ring.

"We'd better not touch it. It looks special."

Tinkerbell nodded. "What's wrong with her?"

"I'm no expert, but it seems like she's dying of disbelief – but not quite. It isn't like that. It's more like she's . . . sick."

"I'm going to knock." Tinkerbell announced, and flew to the door.

**The Little Fairy**

"Nataly hasn't always been my servant." Cassie began as she stepped back into the room carrying a shell box. "She used to be a plain lost fairy – like Jacquie – but she had good fighting skills – the best I've seen. So I used a special ring of mine on her. Now she has no thought but to obey me." Cassie pulled a ring from the box. "It was this ring."

"And why are you telling me this?" Vidia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't want you to be afraid that I'm about to kill you." Cassie smiled. "You aren't the best fighter – I watched you earlier. But at least you look scary, with your black hair -"

"Plum hair." Vidia corrected.

"And grumpy, arrogant looks." Cassie ignored her. "You'll be a decorative guard, mostly."

"I think I'd rather be dead." Vidia rolled her eyes.

Cassie leaned toward her. "Don't say that." she said, in a spooky tone.

"I'll say what I like." Vidia moved away from Cassie as much as she could.

She held out the ring toward Vidia's face. "Don't worry, Vidia. One touch. It won't hurt at all."

Vidia leaned backwards away as Cassie reached forward.

Tinkerbell knocked hard on the door.

"Busy! Wait for a few minutes!" Cassie called, turning her head away from Vidia, and toward the door.

Vidia say her chance. She pulled her knees to her chest like she'd seen Jacquie do, then pushed them out with lightning speed. More simply, she kicked Cassie in the stomach.

Cassie fell backwards with a loud thump, and the ring loudly bounced a few inches away.

"Is everything okay in there?" Tinkerbell's voice sounded faraway through the thick door.

"Help!" Vidia shouted. "Tink, help me!"

"Vidia?" Tinkerbell turned to Fawn. "Help me get inside! Vidia's in there – she's in trouble!"

Vidia jumped to her feet and grabbed Jacquie's pencil. She stabbed a hole through the rope around her wrists, but it didn't break.

"Ahh!" She sprawled forward as Cassie used the shell box to hit her in the back of the head.

She felt Cassie grip her arm and pull her to her feet. She blinked a few times, slightly stunned, then stumbled back as Cassie punched her in the stomach. Vidia yanked on the rope and her wrists flew apart, one hitting Cassie in the cheek.

She struck Cassie again, then moved away and pulled off her backpack. She dumped everything out of it and managed to grab a small piece of aspirin. Cassie stood opposite her, waiting, while Vidia slipped the aspirin into her belt, then moved in. She ducked Cassie's desperate swing, then kicked her in the chest, knocking her onto the floor. In a moment, Vidia was on the floor next to her, pushing the aspirin into her mouth and holding it shut until she swallowed.

Cassie went limp, and Vidia sighed in relief. She looked up as she heard frantic tapping at the window. Tink and Fawn were looking in, gesturing for her to open the door. She couldn't help herself from breaking into a smile as she stood. A board creaked behind her and she whipped around. Nataly was standing there, unmoving.

"Is there any chance that we could talk?" Vidia asked, nervously.

Nataly didn't move at all.

Vidia turned and sprinted for the door.


	12. Nataly

Disclaimer in Chapter One

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 12**

**Nataly**

Vidia's fingers had just curled around the bar across the door when Nataly seized her arms and swung her around, knocking her onto the ground.

"Vidia! Are you okay? Who's that?" Vidia could hear Fawn and Tinkerbell outside, trying to get in, and their voices jumbling together, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. She snatched up the pencil, then tried to throw it like Jacquie did, but it didn't fly straight. Nataly easily knocked it away, then reached down to pick it up. Vidia made a dash for the window, and reached for the lock.

She heard a strange whirring sound, then one of Nataly's razor-sharp pins was sticking from the wood crossbar of the window, only a few hairs' width from her her hand. It was quivering slightly from the force of being thrown.

Vidia snatched her hand away from the window, and backed across the room as Nataly stepped to the window and yanked her pin out of the wood.

_Block that way if she swings, and __**that**_ _way if she stabs._ Vidia tried to remember all that Jacquie had tried to teach her.

Vidia didn't back up as Nataly held the pencil easily, the way that Jacquie had always did. Nataly jumped forward and swung the tip toward Vidia's chest, trying to impale her. All the motion around Vidia seemed to slow, just slightly. She knew it counted as a stab, so she bent her knees and circle-kicked the pencil so hard that it whipped across the room and sank into the wall.

Vidia raised an eyebrow, surprised. She could hear Tinkerbell and Fawn cheering from the window, and Nataly seemed to be more on her guard.

_They think __**they're**_ _impressed._ Vidia snorted a near silent laugh. "Are you still sure you want to fight me?" she challenged, crossing her arms in a the careless, arrogant manner that Jacquie only adopted when she knew she was outnumbered and that there was no way her enemies would win.

Nataly didn't speak, but turned as if to walk away.

Vidia blinked, very surprised.

Nataly paused, her hand resting on the back of a chair, then suddenly she grabbed it, spun it around, then flung it across the room.

Vidia had no time to duck, but found herself flipping backward into the air. She landed on the table, then rolled off and slammed into the wall.

"Vidia!"

"Vidia, are you okay?"  
>"Can you get up?"<p>

Vidia shook her head, dazed, as she tried to focus on the voices that were shouting from outside. Nataly was standing, silent, acorss the room. She hadn't moved forward.

_She could have killed me right then. She's playing with me._ Vidia didn't think before that she could be more angry, but she found herself growing more furious by the second. She felt very sore, but she climbed to her feet and picked up a leg from the shattered chair.

She walked around the table and stood still for a moment. She charged Nataly with the wooden club and swung, but Nataly stepped away, grabbed the club and twisted it away. Vidia coughed, not sure how Nataly had just flipped her onto her back. Nataly kicked her in the side, and Vidia used that momentum to roll away, then roll gracefully to her feet.

"Be careful!" Fawn was calling, and Vidia could hear Tinkerbell building some mechanism for getting the door open.

Vidia crossed the room and went to the pencil that was firmly stuck in the wall. She grabbed it firmly with both hands, braced her feet against the wall, and pulled, hard. It didn't budge. She felt her hands slipping, so she got another grip and pulled again.

Nataly, seeing that Vidia had her back unguarded, silently approached her, pulling a pin from her belt, and drawing her arm back, ready to run Vidia through from behind.

"Vidia – look out!" Fawn shrieked.

Vidia felt the pencil move in the wall. _I'm not letting go now._ She thought, determined. Her left hand slipped slightly, but she held on as tightly as she could. _Just a little more force and . . ._

Vidia's hand slipped off the pencil and swung in a circle. She accidentally belted Nataly in the mouth so hard that she spun around and dropped to one knee.

Vidia backed away, not having realized that Nataly was so close.

As she and Nataly both waited for the other fairy to make the first move, she took a quick look around. The beams going across the ceiling were just thin enough that she might get her hands around them. She knew she wasn't good enough to use it to power a kick like Jacquie might have, but she had other ideas.

Nataly suddenly darted toward her, about to attack, so Vidia ran straight toward her. At the last moment, Vidia jumped and grabbed the beam, flipping herself into the air, then jumping down once Nataly was past. She spun around, trying to use Jacquie's usual fighting stance. She hoped it made her look more dangerous.

Nataly seemed slightly nervous – almost worried. Vidia surpressed a smile, knowing it wouldn't work well with a fighter image. She didn't move, imitating Nataly's technique, but suddenly the room tilted around her and she dropped to her knees, dizzy, disoriented.

"Vidia?" Fawn was trying to find out what was wrong with her. "Vidia! Get up! Look out!"

Vidia couldn't quite hear what she was saying. She felt numb, and had no idea what was wrong. She blinked several times, then recovered. Everything was normal again. She frowned, slightly, then realized that it was her advantage. She pretended to still be dizzy. She heard Nataly walking up behind her, then the soft ring as she pulled a pin from it's sheath at her side.

"Vidia! Look out! Run! Vidia!" Fawn was screaming. Vidia turned her head slowly to look at Fawn, who was staring at the pin right behind her head. Nataly stabbed it through where Vidia's head had just been.


	13. Stone

Disclaimer in Chapter One

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 13**

**Stone**

Vidia dived flat on the floor, then rolled to her feet. Whirling around, she grabbed a chair and hurled it at Nataly, who was knocked to the ground. Nataly jumped from the ground in a fancy way that surprised Vidia, but she kept her head. She punched Nataly in the face, then crouched to the ground and kicked out in a circle in a heel-kick, knocking Nataly down again.

Nataly's head slammed into the wall, and Vidia stayed at the ready for a few moments, just in case she was still conscious, but she didn't seem to be. Vidia stepped forward.

"Nataly?" she said, cautiously.

No response.

"I really didn't want to hurt you." Vidia said, aloud, and walked over to make sure that she was all right. She noticed the ring on the floor and carefully stepped around it. She knelt by Nataly and picked up a wrist to feel for a pulse only to be kneed in the shoulder and knocked on her back. Nataly was kneeling next to her with her hands around her throat.

Vidia's hands instinctively went to Nataly's hands, but after a moment she realized she wouldn't be able to pry them off. She tore part of a feather off her outfit and used it as a cloth to pick up the ring that Cassie had dropped earlier.

She heard something slamming into the door but she could see that the bar was holding well. She gripped the feather and ring more tightly, and tried to hit Nataly in the temple. Nataly was far faster though, and blocked her arm. Vidia's fingers slipped from the cloth and the ring landed harmlessly on Nataly's arm.

Nataly stiffened, letting go of Vidia's neck. Vidia pushed her off and scrambled away just as Nataly fell and landed on her face on the floor.

The ring rolled away, then flipped over with a clang. Vidia climbed to her feet, leaning on the table for balance. She stumbled to the door and pulled the bar out. Tinkerbell and Fawn stepped inside and Vidia got a glimpse of a large mechanical machine that Tinkerbell had been trying to use to get inside.

"Vidia, are you okay?" Tinkerbell asked, worried.

"I'm fine." Vidia said, panted, trying to catch her breath. "Is she? Don't touch any - rings or rocks, by the – way."

"Okay." Tinkerbell replied.

"We've been worried about you." Fawn said. "We've been searching ever since you disappeared."

"Oh – um . . ." Vidia frowned. "I was kidnapped -" Vidia only then realized that she had a bloody nose and that her bruises were starting to get sore.

"We found Araminta." Tinkerbell said. "She told us what happened. Is this Cassie?"

"No, this is Nataly, her guard. That's Cassie." Vidia pointed. As if on cue, Cassie blinked and sat up.

She glanced at Nataly, and at the ring beside her. "The ring neutralized itself!" she said, mournfully. "Nataly will go back to who she was. That's too bad. I've lost the best bodyguard I ever had." she sniffed.

"Will Nataly be okay?" Vidia asked.

"I expect that she'll wake up in a few hours and have no idea what happened to her." Cassie said, mournfully. "I'll have to use the ring on someone else. But they'll never replace her."

"You wicked fairy!" Fawn exclaimed. "You're never going to use that ring again!"

"You can't stop me. I'm a free fairy." Cassie lifted her chin.

"We'll take you to Pixie Hollow." Tinkerbell decided, "She'll know what to do with you."

Cassie looked horrified. "Vidia – you and Jacquie are going to regret -" Cassie began.

"Jacquie!" Vidia breathed, then sprinted outside. "Jacqiue? Jacquie. Jacquie, wake up. Jacquie. _Jacquie!_"

"It's no use, Vidia." Fawn said, gravely. "She's dying. I don't think we can stop it."

"What's hurting her?" Tinkerbell asked.

"She touched that ring." Vidia answered. "It's the ring of Dispel. It draws magic and enchantment from anything it touches. A fairy can't survive without their magic."

Cassie came out of the house, and Vidia turned on her. "How can we save her? How?"

"You can't do anything for her." Cassie said, calmly.

"How has she survived for so long?"

"The ring of Dispel takes the magic away slowly. Spells and enchantments aren't completely taken away for several minutes. The magic of a fairy is more than that, but she has only minutes, I would say."

Vidia ran into the house and up the steps into the round room. She turned in a circle in the center. The rings were all in shell boxes, but the rocks were just sitting on the shelves.

"Vidia, are these her enchanted stones?" Tinkerbell asked.

"Yes. Ah – there!" Vidia ran to a shelf with two black stones on it. "I recognize these. One is the Cintamani stone and the other is the Sessho-seki stone."

"So what do they do?" Fawn inquired.

"The Cintamani stone grants wishes. The Sessho-seks stone kills anyone who touches it.

"Which one's the Cinnamon stone, and which is the Sesshi-seko stone?" Tinkerbell spoke up.

Vidia shook her head. "I don't know."

"Fawn, get Cassie. She'll know which one is which." Tinkerbell said.

"Righto." Fawn flew out to get Cassie, and only a moment later walked her in.

"Which one is the Cintamani stone?" Fawn asked.

Cassie shrugged. "I don't know. Araminta wouldn't let me have her book of enchanted objects. She probably thought that I'd use them to kill people. It would have been kinder to kill Jacquie with that one, thought." Cassie finished thoughtfully.

"You haven't tried either of them?" Vidia checked, dismayed.

"Of course not. I might have died!" Cassie exclaimed.

Vidia exhaled loudly, turning away. "We don't have time to find an ant or something to check it on."

"Hey!" Fawn exclaimed, angry.  
>"Jacquie's going to die." Vidia said, turning. "I'm not going to let that happen."<p>

"Any magic that you do on her will be undone within a minute and she'll start fading again." Cassie said. "You can't save her. How is that so hard for you to understand?"

"I _can_ save her." Vidia argued. "What if I don't wish for her magic to come back? What if I wish for her to become something that doesn't need magic to survive?"

Tinkerbell opened her mouth slightly, understanding.

"What if I turn her human?" Vidia finished. "Won't that work?"

"I don't know." Cassie shook her head.

"I've got to try." Vidia turned back to the shelf.

"That's stupid. You're going to die doing something that may not work." Cassie pointed out. "That's stupid."

Vidia ignored her and tried to remember which stone was which.

"Vidia." Tinkerbell put an arm on her shoulder. "Let me wish."  
>"It isn't just wishing, Tink." Vidia said. "It's your greatest desire. Right now, mine is for Jacquie to become a human and live. You don't know her. You can't really desire that. You don't understand how completely in love she was and how completely <em><strong>stupid<strong>_ she was about it. It has to be me."

"Let me." Fawn said, from her other side. "At least if I wish for something you'll know which stone is which."

Tinkerbell shook her head. "No, Fawn, I won't let you do that."

"I can't let _you_ do it, Tink." Fawn said, earnestly.

"Fawn -"

"Tink -"

Vidia reached out and picked up a stone, wishing with all her heart.

"No!"

"Vidia, don't!"


	14. Human

Disclaimer in Chapter One

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 14**

**Human**

"Are you all right?"  
>"Never mind that – is she dead?"<p>

"I haven't fallen over." Vidia put the stone down. "I guess it worked."

"I don't feel anything." Fawn said, as if she expected fireworks.

"I didn't wish for _you_ to be human, darling." Vidia said, with a very Vidia-ish smile. "Let's check on Jacquie."

Nataly stepped into the doorway and all four of them turned around and froze.

"Hi, Nataly." Vidia said, nervously.

Nataly shifted her weight onto one foot, then the other. "Have we met?" she asked, in a really worried tone. "I don't think I know you."

Tinkerbell laughed, relieved.

"Who are you?" Nataly was getting scared. "Where are we, anyway? Why are you all bloody?" Vidia, surprised, realized that she still had some blood on her.

"I was in a fight." Vidia said, soothingly. "Don't worry. Someone used a magical ring to put an enchantment on you. We took the enchantment off, and we're going to make sure that the ring is never used again. We're normal fairies from Pixie Hollow."

Nataly stepped away.  
>"We won't take you to Pixie Hollow unless you want us to." Vidia continued, familiar with her fears. "Ask us any questions you want to."<p>

"Why is there a human on the roof?"

Vidia started, then she raced to the door and stopped. Jacquie was just getting up from the ground, wearing a fasionable human dress.

Jacquie didn't see her. She was admiring the dress and spinning in circles, incredibly happy.

"It worked." Vidia panted, suddenly feeling tired. "Someone's going to want to find Thomas Brown – on Needleman Street – it's next to a river. Jacquie will need a home near there."

"Sure, Vidia." Tinkerbell replied, staring at Jacquie. The first fairy who ever became a human.

Tinkerbell, and Fawn took Nataly and Cassie out of the house. Vidia moved to follow, but had trouble picking up her feet, and she tripped on the doorframe. She staggered, catching herself.

Fawn glanced back. "Vidia, are you okay?"

"Yeah." Vidia nodded, slightly. "I'm fine. Just feeling like – aspirin." She fell forward on her face in a faint.

**The Little Fairy**

"Oh, thank Mother Dove!" a voice spoke – loudly. It seemed familiar.

"Vidia, can you hear me?" She didn't know that voice. "Open your eyes."

Vidia blinked them wide open. The nurse fairy, startled, flew back a little.

"Do you feel all right?" The nurse asked, in a stern tone.

"I feel fine." Vidia didn't grace her with a smile.

The nurse pulled her into a sitting position. "Your wings were slightly creased when you got here. Open your wings."

Vidia obeyed.  
>"Close."<p>

Vidia did so automatically. She knew the drill. She glanced around. Rosetta, Fawn, Silvermist, Tinkerbell and Iridessa were standing across the room, obviously having been told not to come over. They smiled when she looked at them, and she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and tilt a corner of her mouth.

"A little flap . . . and try a little flutter." Vidia was getting ready to do a flitter when the nurse stepped away. "Lie down, Miss Vidia." The nurse pushed her down. "You're going to rest here at least until tomorrow. Possibly longer."

The nurse left the room.

The other fairies remained silent and still, lined up against the wall opposite the bed. Vidia regarded them for a moment.

"If you're waiting for my permission, get over here." she said, finally.

Four of them didn't waste a moment. Fawn hung back, just a little.

"I wondered if you might have touched the other stone slightly, and it might have had a delayed effect." Tinkerbell exclaimed.

"We didn't know where you were – it was so frightening!" Silvermist said.

"When he took that jar and it was empty I almost fell right out of the sky." Rosetta spoke up.  
>"You had everyone terrified. We didn't know what horrible things might have happened to you." Iridessa said, earnestly.<p>

"Oh, Vidia, I was so scared. When you collapsed my heart stopped beating." Fawn confessed.

Vidia waited for them to calm down.

"What happened to me?" she asked. "I just remember that Jacquie's a human, and I wasn't feeling great."

"You collapsed."

"You fainted."

Tinkerbell and Fawn spoke simultaneously, then looked at each other.

"Go with collapsed." Vidia ordered. "What happened?"

"We flew you straight to the fairy camp, then were told to bring you here." Tinkerbell explained.  
>"Are we back in Pixie Hollow?" Vidia propped herself up on her elbows and looked around.<p>

"Yes, we are!" Fawn hissed, pushing her back to lie down. "If the nurse sees you not resting she'll throw us out!"

"So what is wrong with me?" Vidia asked, from her prone position.

"Well, they sent a couple of messenger fairies and found out that you'd been dozed with aspirin. Too much aspirin." Iridessa explained. "You have Aspirinitis."

"Really?" Vidia frowned at the name.

"No, but they don't have a name for it, and we do, so we're using it." Fawn beamed.

"By the way, Jacquie told me to say that she apologizes. Actually, she apologized almost a hundred times." Tinkerbell remembered.

"Speaking of Jacquie, how's she doing?" Vidia asked.

**The Little Fairy – Now human, in London**

Jacquie stepped gently down the back alley adjoining Needleman Street. She carried her parasol daintily, and she had a fur sash resting lightly on her elbows.

She sighed. Being a human wasn't as bad as she's feared, and when she passed Thomas on the street she had smiled and nodded politely. He had tipped his hat to her. He hadn't spoken a single word, but she had nearly fainted.

She heard footsteps ahead of her and knew that Thomas was walking back from the office. She saw him come onto the alley and start walking away from her toward Needleman Street. She smiled as she saw his neat suit and handsome hat in perfect condition, just as he liked them.

She pressed herself into a corner, trying to make sure he wouldn't see her if he looked behind him. It was good that she did so then, for three rough-looking fellows were following Thomas and came into the alley.

Jacquie frowned, worried.

She heard one calling ahead to Thomas to stop. Thomas looked ahead and realized that he couldn't get out into Needleman street without them catching up, so he stopped.

"What can I do for you, gentlemen?" he asked, politely, but worriedly.

"We'd like to borrow some of your money." the ringleader stepped forward.

"I don't get my pay from the office until Tuesday, sirs." Thomas didn't back down.  
>"Listen here, young fellow -" The leader stepped forward.<p>

"No, you listen here." Jacquie called. The three men turned. Jacquie strode toward them in a antique yellow colored satin dress with dark red trim. "You leave this man alone. Go find someone else to bother." The feathers on her hat and the curls on her shoulders bounced as she took long steps to protect Thomas Brown the way she had always done.

"Madam, you shouldn't be here." Thomas stepped in front of her. "I don't think you realize what you've gotten us both into."

"Look at the Mademoiselle." The leader smiled, and his two thieving friends laughed. "You're practically wearing pound pieces on your fancy dress. Hand over your pocket money, Miss."

"Madam, perhaps we should just -" Thomas began.

Jacquie ignored him, stepping between him and the men.


	15. Thomas Brown of Needleman Street

Disclaimer in Chapter One

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 15**

**Thomas Brown of Needleman Street**

The leader gestured, and one of his men stepped forward Jacquie daintily took off her hat, then suddenly the man was breathing in feathers and hatpins, then he was kicked in the stomach with a very sharp heel. Jacquie turned to the other fellow, and her fur sash was around his neck twice. She pulled slightly, strangling him, then twisted it away and kicked his feet out from under him, letting him fall on his face in the dust. She put the hat back on her head, set the sash back around her elbows, and turned to the leader. She shut her parasol and pulled her arm back, ready to whack him in the face with it, but suddenly she felt a hand on hers. She turned, facing Thomas.

He was quite pale, but he shook his head. "Don't hurt him unless you need to." Thomas begged. "He sees what you've done. Give him the chance to leave."

Jacquie blinked. "You're right." she nodded, and let Thomas guide her away from the two fallen men and the leader, who was standing, shocked.

Jacquie returned the parasol to her left hand, and Thomas offered her his arm. "May I escort you home?" he asked, politely.

Jacquie laughed, thrilled. "Perhaps I should escort _you_ home?" she joked.

Both Jacquie and Thomas heard the chink of metal, and turned simultaneously.

The leader of the muggers held a sharp knife in his hand. Jacquie stepped forward, quite ready to kick him in the chest, but suddenly Thomas was in front of her. He stepped up to the man and grabbed the man's knife hand. Thomas elbowed him in the nose, getting blood all over both of them, then twisted the knife away. Thomas kicked the man in the shin and he collapsed to one knee.

Thomas tried to brush himself off as he stepped away, but he had blood all over one arm and his shirt front.

Jacquie stared at him, startled and pleased. "That was amazing." Thomas took her arm and they started walking up the alley.  
>"It was nothing compared to what you did." Thomas shook his head. "I'm Thomas Brown, by the way."<p>

"And I'm Jacqueline Graystorm. Call me Jacquie." They shook hands.

"Do you live near here?" Thomas asked,

"On Needleman Street." Jacquie said, smiling widely.

"What a coincidence. So do I!" Thomas exclaimed. "Do you have people expecting you? You saved me, and the least I can do is to offer you dinner. My parents will have it waiting for me."

"Oh, I'd love to come!" Jacquie eyes shone. "You're sure it won't be imposing?"

"We'd all love it if you'd come." Thomas assured her.

"Then I shall." Jacquie accepted.

Thomas led her two houses down, and Jacquie leaned over to look at her own home. "Why, we're almost next-door neighbors!" she said. "How lovely."

"Blood on my shirt – my parents will be horrified." Thomas mused. "I don't want you to feel put off. They're overprotective of me. I have a fairly delicate health. They're always wondering how I don't catch pneumonia, walking to work rain or shine as I do."

Jacquie smiled. "I understand their concern." she replied.

**The Little Fairy**

The nurse fairy walked back in. "It's time for the visitors to go." she announced. "Vidia has to rest if she wants to get back to work this week."

"We've had only minutes." Silvermist protested.

"That's all we meant for you to get." the nurse said, mercilessly.

"Tink." Vidia spoke up. "Stay a minute. Don't worry, nurse. I'll throw her out in a moment or two."

"All right." the nurse said, reluctantly.

"What is it, Vidia?" Tinkerbell asked.

"It was your first summer on the mainland. You gave it up to bring me back here. That was pretty sweet."

"You had already done more for me, from what I heard of the rescue mission." Tinkerbell replied.

"I owe you one, Tink." Vidia insisted. "But anyway, I have to ask a favor."

"Anything, Vidia. What is it?"  
>"I need you to find some lost things. Things that have value for humans. Jacquie will need a way to stay around Thomas on Needleman Street until he figures out that they have to get married." Vidia explained. "I would do it, but I don't think they're going to let me out of sick bay."<p>

Tinkerbell nodded. "Of course, Vidia. I'll get the others to help me. It'll be done and on it's way to the mainland in a flash."

"Thanks, Tink." Vidia shut her eyes. "You'd better go."

Tinkerbell flew out.

**The Little Fairy**

Vidia woke with a gasp. She glanced around, but none of the firefly lights were on. It was strange. She glanced out of the window. All of Pixie Hollow seemed dark. She narrowed her eyes and got out of bed. She stepped cautiously out the door, wondering what was going on.

She walked a little way down the hall and peeked into a side room, only to come face to face with a nurse fairy that she'd never seen before.

"_You_!" the fairy gasped. "What are _you_ doing here? You're going to get us killed! You've got to leave before they see you!"

Vidia blinked, confused.

The fairy grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her into the room and to a window. "Climb down the vine. It's nearly invisible, but it's strong. Run away from here and keep running until you're stopped." the nurse instructed.

"What are you talking about? What's going on?" Vidia demanded in a whisper.

"Just go!" the nurse pushed her toward the window.

Vidia climbed out and slid down the vine, then stepped away from the building. A shadow fell over her and she looked up.

_Pirate!_

She stepped back into the shadows as he passed, then ran.

She ran faster, and kept running.

"Psst! Hang on! Stop!" a voice whispered, and she slid to a stop.

Four strange fairies stood off the path that she'd been running on.

"Come here a minute." a blond-haired one ordered.

Vidia obeyed, uncertainly.

"No, it still isn't right." the same fairy told a fairy with short black hair shaking her head.

"Look who got dry so fast." A brunette said, teasingly.

"You'd think she'd have caught on by now." a different blonde smiled as she spoke.

The black haired fairy just grimaced.

"Don't worry." The brunette stepped toward her. "You'll get it."

"Heal fast, Vidia." the black haired fairy said.

Vidia opened her eyes.

It had been a dream.


	16. Finale

Disclaimer in Chapter One

**The Little Fairy**

**Chapter 16**

**End**

Tinkerbell poked her head into Vidia's hospital room. "Can we come in?" she asked.

Vidia looked up, and so did a young sparrowman who had been standing next to her bed.

"Sure, Tink." Vidia said, and sent a sharp look at the sparrowman.

"I was just leaving." he said, nodding politely. "Nice to see you, Vidia."

He left.

"Who was that?" Silvermist asked.  
>"An old friend." Vidia answered, shortly. "So, I'm really dying to know what happened after I escaped from the jar."<p>

The fairies each pulled up a comfy mushroom and sat down.

"Why don't you start, Tinkerbell?" Rosetta suggested. "We'll make sure you don't miss anything."

"Okay." Tinkerbell paused. "We caught up with Mr. Griffiths just before he went inside a building – we had used Lizzy to fly us there while it was raining – and when he saw her fly, he believed and let you go. I mean – he opened the jar. You didn't come out, and that's when we had fairy patrol flying criss-cross all over London. You understand the meaning of _large_ when you've flown from the north west corner to the south east corner of London." Tinkerbell smiled.

"He opened the jar? I went through all of that for nothing?" Vidia asked, face extremely annoyed. "For nothing?"

"Jacquie would be dead if not for you." Tinkerbell pointed out. "Cassie would have killed her."

Vidia nodded reluctantly.

"So," Iridessa spoke up. "What happened to _you_?"

"I fell out of the horseless carriage and started to fly back the way we'd come. It started to rain again and I got downed by an enormous raindrop. The next thing I knew I had woken up, but I had landed on a stack of newspapers. Guess what Lizzy had managed to get onto the inside of the jar?"

The fairies leaned forward, listening carefully.

"Glue. My wings were glued to newspaper."

Silvermist shuddered. "How horrible!"

"Then, to make things worse, a small human boy walked over and picked me up. He was just about to find out if my head would turn around backwards like a doll when I managed to jump out of his hand, but I couldn't fly, so I jumped onto a pole. I lost my grip and slid all the way down to the ground. The boy teamed up with another to try and catch me, but suddenly -" Vidia paused. A messenger fairy was standing in the doorway.

Vidia's five friends were leaning forward, holding their breaths.

"Sorry." she told them, then looked at the messenger. "What is it?"

"You have a letter and a package, Miss Vidia."

"Put them on the table." Vidia told him, sitting up.

He obeyed.  
>"Thank you!" Rosetta smiled at him as he left.<p>

Vidia picked up the letter and quickly pulled it open. "It's from Jacquie!" she grinned. "Vidia, I'm really sorry about the aspirin poisoning. I didn't expect for you to ever forgive me, so I was in tears (and they weren't for show) when I received the treasure. I was told that the fairies were under instructions from you – thank you so much!

"I've already been formally introduced to Thomas, and we have so much in common that he's invited me to dinner – twice! I heard about how you fought Nataly, and I've figured out that you're a lot tougher than I ever gave you credit for. Thank you for saving my life instead of wishing for _your_ greatest desire. Your former captor, Jacquie." Vidia put down the letter. "I never thought of wishing for something else. I don't think I _have_ a greatest desire." Then she paused, thoughtfully. "I wonder what limits that stone has . . ."

Rosetta and Fawn shared a worried glance that none of the others noticed. Fawn picked up the package and handed it to Vidia. "Open it!" she urged.

Vidia tore the leaf wrapping and set it on the table next to her bed. She smiled as she pulled out the olive fork and the pencil. She glanced at her audience. "These come into the story." she told them, then set them down and reached into the bottom of the leaf-wrapped package.

She pulled out a leaf-dress.

_Looks just like hers – but it's a little different color. Probably her second set – I never saw her wear it, though._

Vidia held it up. "This is just like the one that Jacquie wore all the time that I was with her. I complimented it just before she knocked me out with aspirin._"_

"That's gorgeous." Fawn exclaimed.  
>"She has very good taste." Silvermist nodded.<p>

"I'll say." Iridessa spoke up.  
>"What a very nice color." Tinkerbell commented.<p>

"I have _got _to see that on you." Rosetta said, loudly.

Everyone else paused.

"Try it on?" Vidia frowned. "I most certainly will _not!_"

"All right, all right." Rosetta admitted defeat. "Can you go on with your story, then?"

Vidia drew in a deep breath.

**That's all, folks!**

**I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to look at my story, and let you know that the sequel to this will be titled 'Treasure Chest'. It should be up fairly soon. It will be set directly after a fairy short that can be found on youtube: .com (slash) watch?v=ahYfHrrOI6M**

**Or you could search 'Disney Fairies Short: Treasure Chest'**

**The first chapter of Treasure Chest should be up in the next week or two.**


End file.
